i originally had everything that was posted for frank freys never published sourcebook, but the disk i had it on as vanished, can any one get me some of the background information as well as the units involved?

any help would be apprecated :
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"those who speak of the glory of war, have never seen it," Gen. William Tecumsah Sherman

I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but r/l the US began training the Army of the Republic of Mali following the Gulf War. Training has increased following concerns (legitimate) about fundamentalist islamic terrorists moving in from other parts of North Africa.

I was considering that you really could adapt this task force to anywhere in Africa. Personally I've always found Mali a very fascinating country. If anyone is interested I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do.

Before Europeans became the dominant colonial powers in Africa, the Malinke Empire with its capital in Timbucktu was one of the most powerful nations in North Africa. It became Islamic in the 14th century and remained a powerful kingdom until the 16th century when it was conquered first by the Songhai Empire and later by the Sultan of Morocco. It was known as Soudan under the French occupation.

The Malinke people survive in Mali but are just one of several tribes, including the Dogon, the Fulani, the Segou, Bambara, and Tuareg.

Mali is bordered by Algeria to the Northeast, on the East by Niger, on the South by Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea, and to the West by Senegal and Mauritania.

Most of Mali consists of low plains broken occasionally by rocky hills. In the southeast the Hombori Mountains rise to 1155 m (3789 ft), and in the southwest the Bambouk and Manding mountains are separated by an area of sandy lowlands north and northwest of the Niger River, which cuts an arc across Mali. The northern third of the country lies within the Sahara. In the west is a part of the Sahel, a semiarid transitional zone between areas of savanna and the Sahara desert.

The climate of the parts of Mali not in the Sahara is hot and dry with average temperatures ranging from about 24° to 32° C (about 75° to 90° F) in the south and higher in the north. Annual rainfall declines from about 1400 mm (about 55 in) in the south to some 1120 mm (some 44 in) at Bamako and less than 127 mm (less than 5 in) in the north.

Mali is a predominantly agricultural country. The most valuable resource is the Niger River, which abounds in fish; its waters are used for irrigation. Mineral resources include gold, salt, phosphate rock, iron ore, diamonds, and uranium.

In the southern Saharan zone of Mali are found mimosa and gum trees; in the central region, thorny plants; and in the south, kapok, baobab, and shea trees. Animals include baboon, cheetah, oryx, gazelle, giraffe, warthog, lion, leopard, antelope, and jackal.

Islam is the religion of about 80 percent of the population, and about 18 percent of the people follow traditional beliefs; less than 2 percent are Christians. French is the official language but African languages, such as Bambara and Songhai, are widely spoken.

The Niger and Senegal rivers are generally navigable, the former is too low from the dry season from February till June, while the latter is navigable from the town of Kayes till about St. Louis in Senegal. A railroad, still maintained, provides transport from Bamako to Dakar. However, damage to the rails does occur and travel is not guaranteed to be safe or efficient.

Although Mali is almost entirely an agrarian region, droughts, locusts and overgrazing have made it subject to encroachments by the desert. Some areas are very hungry.

Bamako, city, southwestern Mali, capital and largest city of the country, in the Capital District, on the navigable Niger River. It is the country's chief administrative, commercial, financial, manufacturing, and transportation center. The city is a trade center for shea-nut oil, peanuts, kapok, and cotton, and industries here produce motor vehicles, processed food, farm machinery, printed materials, metal goods, building supplies, and batteries. Colleges of administration, engineering, medicine and dentistry, and teacher training are in the city, which also has several research institutes.

Bamako's estimated population is around 800,000. How much the capital controls at this time is questionable, though with the aid of allied forces it is regaining control of the rest of the country.

Tombouctou was formerly a great commercial entrepôt and an international center of Islamic learning. The city was probably founded in the late 11th century AD by Tuareg nomads. By the early 14th century, when it was incorporated into the ancient empire of Mali, Tombouctou was a leading terminus of trans-Saharan caravans and a distribution point for trade along the upper Niger. After it was conquered by the powerful Songhai Empire in 1468, the city reached its zenith as a commercial and religious center. It had a population of about 40,000 in the early 16th century. Merchants from northern African cities traded salt and cloth for gold and for black African slaves in the markets of Tombouctou. The school organized at the city's Sankoré mosque was staffed by scholars educated in the leading Islamic academies of the Middle East.
In 1591 invaders from Morocco captured Tombouctou, and thereafter the city declined, partly because of raids by Bambara, Fulani, and Tuareg and partly because commerce was diverted to other cities. By the 19th century Tombouctou was of little importance. It was later occupied (1893-94) by the French. Population (estimated) 20,500

Djénné, town in southern Mali, about 400 km (about 250 mi) north-northeast of the Malian capital of Bamako. An ancient center of trade and Islamic learning, Djénné remains a locally significant trading center for fish and the region's coffee and kola nut crops. Artisans produce leather articles, cloth, and blankets. The town is linked by road to San to the south and Ké Massina to the west. Djénné has noteworthy examples of Islamic architecture, including a large mosque rebuilt by the French in 1907.
The early inhabitants of the Djénné area, the Bozo fishermen, came under the rule of the Nono, a branch of the Mande. Djénné was founded by the Nono in the 13th century, and developed into a commercial center the following century. Djénné's importance resided chiefly in its role as a marketplace where salt traders from the Sahara met gold traders from the forested regions to the south. A dependency of the Mali Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries, Djénné gained independence early in the 15th century. Despite the natural protection afforded by the nearby marshes and rivers and the large number of sieges that Djénné is said to have resisted, the town's wealth and strategic position attracted a series of conquerors: Djénné was captured by the Songhai emperor Sunni Ali in 1471; after having become a well-known center of Islamic learning by the middle of the 17th century, Djénné was occupied by the Bambara Kingdom from 1670 to 1810. In 1818 the town was besieged, and finally subdued, by the Fulani cleric Ahmadu of Macina. In about 1861 Djénné was conquered by the Tukolor Emperor al-Hajj Umar; it was occupied by the French in 1893. Thereafter, its commercial significance was overshadowed by Mopti, situated to the north of Djénné at the confluence of the Niger and Bani rivers, and by Ségou to the west. Population (1976 estimate) 10,275.
The Great Mosque of Djenné was built in the 13th and 14th centuries to provide Islamic traders with a center for prayer. The Djenné mosque consists of a main structure of baked mud with vertical buttresses (wall supports) that rise to pinnacles; on the roof is a flat terrace lined with palm fronds and wooden or ceramic spouts that drain water from the terrace. The eastern facade of the structure has three hollow minarets (towers from which worshipers are called to prayer) rhythmically interspersed between 18 buttresses. The Djenné mosque has come to represent Islamic style in this region and has been imitated in many of the mosques along the Niger River valley in Mali.
Attached Images bko08.JPG (89.6 KB, 5 views)

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Last edited by DeaconR : Today at 07:21 AM.

DeaconR

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DeaconR

Notes regarding US and allied forces. I have generally kept things similar to above, however the principal idea here is that the American forces are stranded in Mali, surrounded by hostile or determinedly neutral countries, and would have to either make a major effort to leave which guaranteed some kind of transport or else make the best of things where they are. Thus there are no naval assets mentioned.

Regarding Malian forces, careers available would be in armour, airborne, infantry, artillery, aviation, combat engineer, medic and support services. The training for these for purposes of a campaign would be the same as for Americans since cadres of American troops began re-training the Malian army in the early nineties.

For background for local troops, since nearly 80% of the population of the region are involved in agriculture, the most common background careers are likely to be farmer, construction worker or river fisherman.

The French sold a lot of arms to the Malians, and thus French light combat arms would be available as well as American and old Soviet stock.

In order to help dispel some confusion(or add to it ), here is a brief rundown of the 173rd AB in my T2K world.

The 173rd was actually reconstituted in 1995 as an additional strategic asset. It was to consist of two battalions of regulars, a battalion of National Guard, and battalion of Army Reserves. Two of the battalions were to be airmobile and the other two were regular airborne. It kinda sorta worked out this way.

Parts of the 173rd were deployed to Kenya in early 1997. The initial Task Force consisted of the following
173rd HQ and Spt Bn
1st/503rd Parachute Inf
2nd/503rd Parachute Inf
Co. N/75th Inf(Ranger)

The Reserve and National Guard battalions never made it so the newly raised 555th Parachute Infantry Bn was sent in its stead.
They were later joined by the 3/325th and other NATO units who had been expelled from Italy.
The 173rd has seen action against marauding bands of "Technicals" from Somalia as well as a large so called Christian marauder group from Uganda that calls itself "God's Will".

Well I hope this helps. As always feel free to use any of this or ignore it as you will.

Frank Frey

Matt Wiser
03-12-2003, 02:09 PM
How about arty, engineers, MPs, aviation (you mentioned a 228th AVN Bn deploying with them), armor (Sheridans, LAVs, or M-8 Bufords?);
Any USAF units deploy with them (C-130s and A-7Ds most likely)?
Where in Kenya did the 173rd concentrate-Nairobi, Mombasa, or are they in both cities? You mentioned previously a Sudanese outfit causing trouble (I think you called them the Sword of Allah).
Bringing back the 555th was a good idea-they're mentioned in this month's World War II magazine.

Frank Frey
03-13-2003, 07:49 AM
Matt,

I was going from memory when I made that post. You're right about the 228th Aviation Bn. There was also an MP Company(IIRC) as well as an artillery battalion. The vehicles were mostly various flavors of Hummers and Cadillac-Gage vehicles.
Brigade HQ was located in Nairobi. A US Navy/Coast Guard JTF operated out of Mombasa.

There are a number of insurgent/marauder groups in the area. Aside from the ones that I've already there are:
Al Seifidin (Sword of the Faithful): Islamic fundamentalists who are dedicated to wiping out all Western Influences. They especially target Western female soldiers.
Black Sails: A pirate/slaver band that operates out of Zanzibar. Their main opposition is the JTF that operates out of Mombasa.

Thats all that comes to mind right now. My notes and such are buried in my closet. Oh, one more item. There is a private aviation outfit operating out of Nairobi. They're called Aerotek International. What makes them interesting is that they fly A-26's and A-1 Skyraiders.

Frank Frey

pmulcahy
03-13-2003, 09:10 AM
It should be noted that 3/325th is actually one of the batttalions of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade. It is "forward deployed" in Italy, and (10 years ago, anyway) is a part of the AMF (Allied Mobile Force), sort of an "RDF" for NATO, along with units from just about every country in NATO.
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shrike6
03-13-2003, 09:58 AM
The SETAF airborne battalion, 3-325th Airborne was reflagged 1-508th Airborne on 15 Feb 96 http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Lin...pE-2nondiv.htm

The 4-325th Airborne battalion, an organic element of 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division was reflagged 3-325th Airborne on 16 May 96. http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Lin...lag/appE-1.htm
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pmulcahy
03-13-2003, 01:51 PM
Well...that sort of confirms my current sig!
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Matt Wiser
03-13-2003, 01:58 PM
For those who might be interested, check the books Guerilla, Battle for the Bundu, On to Kilomanjaro, and The Great War in Africa: They tell the story of WW I in East Africa and the campaigns against the Germans in modern-day Tanzania. You have an apathetic British colonial administration in Nairobi, "Colonel Blimp" type British commanders, A British intel officer who knew more than his superiors (and never rose above Colonel because of it), and a German commander who knew bush warfare and frustrated the British to no end. Both sides often fought disease and local wildlife as often as the enemy-a British officer said it was like fighting in a zoo-the Brits lost 30 men killed in the first 18 months of the war due to lions, rhinos, and other angry local fauna. Transplant this to the 173rd Airborne in Kenya and there are a lot of possibilites: Apathetic Kenyan government officials (and a US Ambassador loyal to Civgov), The bandits, marauders, and assorted scum that Frank Frey mentions causing all sorts of trouble (and fighting each other as well against the 173rd), and so on.

Three questions for Frank: Any USAF in support of the 173rd? The USN and Coast Guard presence-mainly patrol boats, but any larger ships (like an old Forrest Sherman class DD)? The Aerotek guys-I take it these were mercs working for the Kenyan govt pre-war? How do they get along with the US Army Aviation and (presumably) USAF-friendly or unfriendly rivals?